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One of the novel phenomena of Ar/O2 inductively coupled plasma, the delta negative ions density profile is discovered by the fluid simulation at very low electronegativity. The anions delta is found to be formed by the collaboration of successive plasma transport phases. The plasma transport itself is affected by the delta, exhibiting many new phenomena. A new type of Helmholtz equation is devised to mathematically explain the delta forming mechanism. For revealing the physics behind, a revised spring oscillator dynamic equation has been constructed according to the Helmholtz equation, in a relevant paper [Zhao S X and Li J Z (2021) Chin. Phys. B 30 055202]. The investigation about the anions delta distribution is a nice prediction of new phenomenon in low temperature electronegative plasmas, waiting for the validation of related experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-dimensional fluid model was built to study the argon discharge in a capacitively coupled plasma reactor and the full set of Maxwell equations is included in the model to understand the electromagnetic effect in the capacitive discharge. Two electrical sources are applied to the top and bottom electrodes in our simulations and the phase-shift effect is focused on. We distinguish the difference of the phase-shift effect on the plasma uniformity in the traditional radio frequency discharge and in the very high frequency discharge where the standing wave effect dominates. It is found that in the discharges with frequency 13.56 MHz, the control of phase difference can less the influence of the electrostatic edge effect, and it gets the best radial uniformity of plasma density at the phase difference π. But in the very high frequency discharges, the standing wave effect plays an important role. The standing wave effect can be counteracted at the phase difference 0, and be enhanced at the phase difference π. The standing wave effect and the edge effect are balanced at some phase-shift value between 0 and π, which is determined by discharge parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One self-consistent method combined with the electromagnetic theory and fluid model is developed to investigate the E-H mode transition of argon inductively coupled plasma (ICP) by adjusting the external electric parameters of the reactor. ICP dynamic characteristics of radial and axial space are also studied when E and H modes coexist. By regulating the radio-frequency current in the coil and voltage across the powered end of the coil and the ground, the E-H mode transition is observed, accompanied by the substantial variations in the electromagnetic field and plasma parameters (density, temperature, and deposited power). Besides, the evolution characteristics of ICP are examined when the discharge mechanism transforms from an E-mode dominated to an H-mode dominated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a hybrid model is used to investigate the effect of different gas ratios on the Si etching and polymer film deposition characteristics in an Ar/CF4 inductively coupled plasma. The influence of the surface processes on the bulk plasma properties is studied, and also the spatial characteristics of important gas phase and etched species. The densities of F and CF2 decrease when the surface module is included in the simulations, due to the species consumption caused by etching and polymer deposition. The influence of the surface processes on the bulk plasma depends on the Ar/CF4 gas ratio. The deposited polymer becomes thicker at high CF4 content because of more abundant CFx radicals. As a result of the competition between the polymer thickness and the F flux, the etch rate first increases and then decreases upon increasing the CF4 content. The electron properties, more specifically the electron density profile, affect the Si etch characteristics substantially by determining the radical density and flux profiles. In fact, the radial profile of the etch rate is more uniform at low CF4 content since the electron density has a smooth distribution. At high CF4 content, the etch rate is less uniform with a minimum halfway along the wafer radius, because the electron density distribution is more localized. Therefore, our calculations predict that it is better to work at relatively high Ar/CF4 gas ratios, in order to obtain high etch rate and good profile uniformity for etch applications. This, in fact, corresponds to the typical experimental etch conditions in Ar/CF4 gas mixtures as found in the literature, where Ar is typically present at a much higher concentration than CF4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model that couples an equivalent circuit module is used to investigate the mode transition characteristics and hysteresis in hydrogen inductively coupled plasmas at different pressures, by varying the series capacitance of the matching box. The variations of the electron density, temperature, and the circuit electrical properties are presented. As cycling the matching capacitance, at high pressure both the discontinuity and hysteresis appear for the plasma parameters and the transferred impedances of both the inductive and capacitive discharge components, while at low pressure only the discontinuity is seen. The simulations predict that the sheath plays a determinative role on the presence of discontinuity and hysteresis at high pressure, by influencing the inductive coupling efficiency of applied power. Moreover, the values of the plasma transferred impedances at different pressures are compared, and the larger plasma inductance at low pressure due to less collision frequency, as analyzed, is the reason why the hysteresis is not seen at low pressure, even with a wider sheath. Besides, the behaviors of the coil voltage and current parameters during the mode transitions are investigated. They both increase (decrease) at the E to H (H to E) mode transition, indicating an improved (worsened) inductive power coupling efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In engineering construction, cement quality directly affects the safety of construction projects. So it is necessary that we use qualified cement in the engineering structure. It is of great signification that a method detects cement raw material rapidly to adjust the mixture ratio of raw ores to ensure the cement quality. Traditional detection method needs sampling, sample preparation and test, etc. With many procedures, the test results are seriously lagged behind the production process. This paper introduces a set of online analysis equipment to determinate elemental composition of cement powder timely based on laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. This equipment is composed of a LIBS detection system and a pneumatic system. The equipment can achieve the real-time measurement for it needn’t sample preparation. Thus, it can guide cement raw material proportioning in time. In this paper, we have quantitatively analyzed the main components of Al2O3, CaO, Fe2O3, MgO and SiO2 in the cement raw materials using the full spectrum normalization method as well as the support vector machine. The corresponding maximum absolute errors were 0.34%, 0.35%, 0.07%, 0.14%, and 0.55%, respectively. Results showed that the measurement results of the newly developed LIBS equipment are in accord with those of the conventional chemical method. Furthermore, the measurement precision is in line with X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry. It is confirmed that the LIBS technique could be a prospect method for determination of elemental composition in the cement production industries.